Microsoft unveils the Surface Laptop, a Windows 10 S device looking to take down the MacBook

Microsoft has unveiled the Surface Laptop at its New York education event, a new Windows 10 S hero device, designed for students, but likely to be loved by everyone.

The Surface Laptop comes with a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 resolution PixelSense display with a 3:2 aspect, fully touch enabled with 3.4 million pixels, for a sharp picture, with Microsoft saying that this is the thinnest LCD touchscreen you'll find in any device.

As it comes with touch, you also get support for Surface Pen, meaning you can craft, sketch, annotate, edit and do whatever else you want, essentially, without having to smear the display with your fingerprints.

The emphasis here is on manufacturing skill, with metal, plastic and the Alcantara fabric deck coming together to give you a premium product.

It's powered by the latest Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs, but impressively, Microsoft says you'll get 14.5-hours of battery life from the Surface Laptop. It's also claimed that when the lid is closed and the laptop is in standby, it will drain no battery.

That means that if you forget to charge your battery it doesn't matter, because you'll be able to open it days later and find the battery in the same state where you left off, rather than flat. Putting that into context, Microsoft said that this has more battery than any MacBook, the obvious rival for the new Surface Laptop.

It will be available with 4, 8 or 16GB RAM, option of 128, 256 or 512GB SSD for storage, and it comes with a whole range of ports including a 3.5mm headphone socket, USB 3.0, SD card slot and mini DisplayPort.

The Surface Laptop launches on Windows 10 S, but can be updated to Windows 10 Pro if you'd prefer. It's also compatible with existing Surface accessories, like the Dial.

The Surface Laptop will be available from $999 for the Core i5 version running all the way up to an awkward $2199 for the top i7 version. It will be on pre-order from 2 May and generally available from 15 June.